Last week's episode of CSI: Cyber followed a Robin Hood-esque perp who, instead of using a bow and arrow to steal from the rich and give to the poor, does so behind a computer screen. At face value, the baddie of the week doesn't sound all that bad. After all, he's made it his mission to stick it to the man by hacking into the computer system of a bank in D.C. and transferring funds into people's accounts. Sounds great, huh? Unfortunately, his actions set off a chain reaction that results in the deaths of several people.
Eventually, the team is able to track down the cyber Robin Hood, but learn that a copycat has also decided to hack into the bank's system and start distributing money. Avery and the crew soon realize that the imitator is none other than Raven's hacker ex-boyfriend. He is in town to serve as a character witness for a hearing to determine whether Raven will be released from her court-mandated commitment to the Cyber team. Using Raven's relationship to the hacker to secure a confession, the team is able to make an arrest. Unfortunately for Raven, her role in this plan is not enough to convince Avery to overlook the fact that Raven lied about her ex's presence in town. Toward the end of the episode, Avery recommends to a judge that Raven not be released from her commitment to the FBI. The judge sides with Avery, thus putting a strain on her relationship with her young charge.
Meanwhile, Elijah runs into trouble when bogus charges start showing up on his credit card bill. He comes to find that they were made by a bartender he turned to during his dark period earlier in the season, thus suggesting he may have to deal with a case of fatal attraction.
Overall, this episode was a solid installment. The writers gave us some interesting character development with Raven. I'm glad we got the chance to meet her ex and see a flashback to her first day at Quantico, when she was a punky hacker with a whole lotta 'tude. It's nice to see the show slowly peel back the layers of its characters this year. Here's hoping that trend continues.
I also like where they went with Elijah in this episode. I think the jilted bartender storyline has a lot of potential. I sure hope we haven't seen the last of this vixen, whose actress does a wonderful job of going back and forth between playing the character as innocent and conniving.
My only real complaint about this episode is the fact that CBS shifted the episode's start time from 10:30 to 10:00 due to football overrun. I ended up having to go back to watch the first half of the episode after realizing that my DVR only taped the second half due to the change in schedule. It stinks that this keeps happening to CSI: Cyber this season. The show has made leaps and bounds in terms of quality in the last couple months. It's too bad that the show has been relegated to such an awful time slot despite the many improvements made this year.